The American Wisdom Series

Presents
Matthew #2501a

The New Testament begins by establishing the "engendering" of the "Royal Genealogy", the Throne of David, the kingship line, the lineage of the King of kings,

Let us now begin our study of this marvelous gift of knowledge from our Father allowing the entire Old Testament to stand as the foundation and serve as the complete and the only necessary introductory to "The Holy Gospel According to Matthew". Here then is the all important first verse of the New Testament.

Matthew 1:1
The book of the generation of Jesus Christ, the son of David, the son of Abraham.
The New Testament begins by establishing the "engendering" of the "Royal Genealogy", the Throne of David, the kingship line, the lineage of the King of kings, the family through which the promised "seed" would come to this earth to tabernacle among men. You "see", the very BIRTH of Jesus Christ attests to the faithfulness of God to keep His unconditional covenant which He made to Abraham way back in Genesis 12:3 and 22:18.
Genesis 12:3
And I will bless them that bless thee, and curse him that curseth thee: and in thee shall all families of the earth be blessed.

Genesis 22:18
And in thy seed shall all the nations of the earth be blessed; because thou hast obeyed my voice.

Of course the "national blessings" of the Abrahamic covenant which you can read about in Genesis 48 were passed down through Joseph and his two sons, Ephraim and Manasseh, but it would be through Judah that the sceptre of the king, i.e. the kingship rights, would come. In other words, it would be through this lineage that Christ would be established forever as the King of kings.

Even though the genealogy concerning the Throne of David we are about to read of here in Matthew is actually Joseph's genealogy, it was by "adoption" that Jesus became the son of Joseph and was therefore "legally entitled", as if by birthright, to the inheritance of His father who was a direct descendent of the royal line through Abraham, Isaac, Jacob (Israel), and Judah. However, not only was Christ legally entitled to the throne, in Luke chapter 3 we find that Mary, the mother of Jesus, was also directly descended from Abraham, David, and Judah through her father, Heli, a pure blooded Judahite.(We will briefly discuss the added significance of this in one of our next studies.) Here is the prophecy declaring that it would be through David that the King of kings would come and reign and prosper:

Jeremiah 23:5
Behold, the days come, saith the LORD, that I will raise unto David a righteous Branch, and a King shall reign and prosper, and shall execute judgment and justice in the earth.
Again, this is the subject of the Book of Matthew, i.e. setting forth the Lord as YHVH's King. Here is another prophecy of that "seed" which would proceed out of the loins of David and through Whom the Kingdom of God would be established... forever!
2 Samuel 7:12
And when thy days be fulfilled, and thou shalt sleep with thy fathers, I will set up thy seed after thee, which shall proceed out of thy bowels, and I will establish his kingdom.

[16] And thine house and thy kingdom shall be established for ever before thee: thy throne shall be established for ever.

Having now established the "Royal Line" as the one through which Jesus Christ would be "set up" as King, Matthew now gives us the details of the "begettal" of that royal line. The word "begat" is "gennao" in Greek which means to engender from "father to son".
Matthew 1:2
Abraham begat Isaac; and Isaac begat Jacob; and Jacob begat Judas and his brethren;
The genealogies given to us here and in Luke chapter 3 are replete with divine intervention, for throughout the Old Testament (even into the NT) beginning right in the Garden of Eden with the seduction of Eve followed by the invasion of the nephilim (sons of God) in Genesis 6 who came to earth in their angelic form without being born of woman and then took to wife the daughters of Adam during the days of Noah, we find Satan's attempt to destroy the "seedline" through which Messiah would come. With that thought in mind one can easily identify specific events in the lives of each of the patriarchs listed above where that same attempt was made to destroy the promised One of God, the blessed "seed" who would come forth and be a blessing to all nations. Of course all attempts to thwart the plan of God have failed miserably up to this point and shall continue to do so.
[3] And Judas begat Phares and Zara of Thamar; and Phares begat Esrom; and Esrom begat Aram;
Tamar is among the four women mentioned in this genealogy, the other three being Rehab, Ruth, and Bathsheba. You should also know the story of Judah's disobedience in taking to wife and having sons born to a Canaanite woman and how God used Tamar, Judah's daughter-in-law, to raise up the twin brothers of Pharez and Zarah (Gen. 38) to continue the royal lineage.
1 Chron. 2:4-5
And Tamar his daughter in law bare him Pharez and Zerah. All the sons of Judah were five. [5] The sons of Pharez; Hezron, and Hamul.
Matthew 1:4
And Aram begat Aminadab; and Aminadab begat Naasson; and Naasson begat Salmon;

[5] And Salmon begat Booz of Rachab; and Booz begat Obed of Ruth; and Obed begat Jesse;

We have record of the events and experiences of Rehab (Josh. 2:1) and Boaz and Ruth (Ruth 4:1) and Jesse, etc., all of whom testify to the faithfulness of God.
[6] And Jesse begat David the king; and David the king begat Solomon of her that had been the wife of Urias;
It is interesting that reference to Bathsheba once being the wife of Uriah is made here for one cannot help but be reminded of the story of what happened to Uriah. Therefore we are confronted with the "humanness" of us all, including the sore level to which some of us have already lowered ourselves, even as did some of our most cherished forefathers. That is not meant to be demeaning nor to diminish our respect and admiration for our forefathers in any way whatsoever. It just serves to remind us that we are all sinners in the flesh and that we all fall short of the glory of the One who came from above to this earth to dwell in the flesh and pay the price that we might be forgiven and through believing in Him, receive the "gift of eternal life".

You see, God loves all of His children, though many be "publicans and sinners". Of course, the good religious folks accused Jesus Christ of being friends and associating Himself with publicans and sinners. Matthew 11:19 "The Son of man came eating and drinking, and they say, Behold a man gluttonous, and a winebibber, a friend of publicans and sinners. But wisdom is justified of her children." To wit, it is therefore also fitting that the writer of the first book of the New Testament, Matthew, was also a publican.

[7] And Solomon begat Roboam; and Roboam begat Abia; and Abia begat Asa;

[8] And Asa begat Josaphat; and Josaphat begat Joram; and Joram begat Ozias;

Dr. Bullinger on page 1308 of the Companion Bible points out the following concerning the "character" of characters above as well as scriptural references for each of them.
Bad father (Rehoboam) begat a Bad son (Abijah)

    Bad father (Abijah) begat a Good son (Asa)

    Good father (Asa) begat a Good son (Jehoshaphat)

Good father (Jehoshaphat) begat a Bad son (Jehoram)

[9] And Ozias begat Joatham; and Joatham begat Achaz; and Achaz begat Ezekias;

[10] And Ezekias begat Manasses; and Manasses begat Amon; and Amon begat Josias;

[11] And Josias begat Jechonias and his brethren, about the time they were carried away to Babylon:

The "carrying away to Babylon" commenced with Jehoiakim, continued in Jechoniah, and was completed in Zedekiah (2 Kings 24 & 25).
Matthew 1:12
And after they were brought to Babylon, Jechonias begat Salathiel; and Salathiel begat Zorobabel;

[13] And Zorobabel begat Abiud; and Abiud begat Eliakim; and Eliakim begat Azor;

[14] And Azor begat Sadoc; and Sadoc begat Achim; and Achim begat Eliud;

[15] And Eliud begat Eleazar; and Eleazar begat Matthan; and Matthan begat Jacob;

[16] And Jacob begat Joseph the husband of Mary, of whom was born Jesus, who is called Christ.

"Jesus" (Iesous in Greek, pronounced ee-ay-sooce) is "Yehoshua" (Yehowshuwa) in Hebrew which means "Yahveh's Savior", the Anointed One (christos) of God.
[17] So all the generations from Abraham to David are fourteen generations; and from David until the carrying away into Babylon are fourteen generations; and from the carrying away into Babylon unto Christ are fourteen generations.
When you think about the fact that there were only 42 (3 x 14) generations from Abraham to Christ, there really aren't that many generations in the history of the world from Adam until present day, are there?

Editor's note: We said there were only 42 generations from Abraham to Christ; We did not say from God's first six days of creation activity to Christ! Adam was formed on the eighth day. See pamphlet #7001
To study the Bible is the noblest of all pursuits; to understand it, the highest of all goals.
We pray that with the guidance of the Holy Spirit, you accomplish both.

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